Have We Entered a Golden Age in Animation?

This is one topic I have always wanted to talk about on here. Have we entered a golden age in animation? I am going to give you my take on this very delicate topic.
Really, I'm going to have to take quite a few things into consideration when determining this. I'm going to be talking about both animated films and animated TV shows. After all, during the animation golden age in the 90s, there were not only excellent animated films, but also a ton of amazing animated TV shows as well.

First off, I'm going to talk about the animated films that are being released nowadays. First, the big two. It's very obvious that we are getting some excellent masterpieces from Pixar and Disney. In fact, we have clearly entered a golden age is Disney animation specifically. Before 2007, Disney was releasing a lot of bad animated films like Chicken Little and Home on the Range. Ever since John Lasseter became the Chief Creative Officer of Disney, their films have been a lot better, with films like Wreck-it Ralph and Frozen. And Pixar is..... well, Pixar! Pixar hasn't changed a bit and has been creating masterpieces since the beginning. But, two studios can't quite determine if we're in an animation golden age. We have to look at many other studios and the animation industry as a whole. That's where it starts to get tricky......

While we are seeing a lot of good animated films from different studios, we're also seeing a lot of crap. This was evident just last year, in fact. 2013 was a very weak year for animation. The only good films released around the world last year were Monsters University, Frozen and Despicable Me 2 (though even that film had some flaws.) Keep in mind that I'm leaving out The Wind Rises and Ernest & Celestine because those were not worldwide releases. All of the other 2013 animated films were just sub-par. The Croods? Give me a break. Planes? Don't get me started with Planes! While we can't expect every single animated film released to be good, even in a golden age, 2013 had too many bad animated films. However, that does not mean we're not in an animation golden age. 2013 was just a little bump in the road.

Besides, have you seen the animated films being released this year, 2015 and onward?! The upcoming animation lineup looks amazing! There's a lot of films that seem very ambitious such as the two Pixar films being released in 2015, The Good Dinosaur (if that hasn't already been cancelled) and Inside Out. Also, there's Big Hero 6, a compilation project between Disney and Marvel, making it Disney's first compilation film. But there are also a ton of animated films that look amazing outside of the big two! We have The BoxTrolls coming from LAIKA, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman, and let's not forget the gutsy move Sony Pictures Entertainment is making by releasing Sausage Party, an R-rated animated film. Perverted as the title may sound, it is still a very gutsy move, especially when considering how everyone perceives animation.

This leads me to a very delicate topic within the animation community. The fact that people perceive animation as mere kids stuff. Back in the 40s, the general public viewed animation as the art form it truly is. But staring in the 50s, with the invention of the Television, cartoons were being aired during times when kids would watch TV. This is why people started thinking about animation as kids stuff. And I see that state of mind every day. Whether it's people saying "Oh my god! watching this animated film makes me feel like a kid again!" or when they say, "I'm (insert old age here) and I'm still going to be seeing this animated film!" or even simply saying, "That was such a cute little cartoon!" I see this, among other phrases about animation which the animation community would find very familiar but upsetting and frustrating, constantly. Hearing all these phrases is a massive pet peeve of mine and it needs to change! Walt Disney himself even said that he does not make movies for kids. You could tell that studios such as Disney and Pixar do not target their films to kids, yet this perception about animation is not going away!

So anyways, after that rant (which I hope inspired those of you who think animation is for kids), Let's get back to the films.

There are a lot of other animated films that look like they will be very good as well, such as High in the Clouds, an animated film by Paul McCartney, among a ton of other upcoming animated films!

However, there are also a lot of animated films that do not look all that promising. Films that rely solely on pop culture references and toilet humor. There is no stopping these films from being made, but more ambitious animated films will overshadow the crappy films. Which is why those not as promising animated films will not affect my opinion on whether or not we are in an animation golden age. There will be those animated films that are just there to please the kids, but given the animated films we have had recently (especially in 2010) and the upcoming animated films, I strongly believe that we are in another animation golden age. But we're not done yet. We still need to talk about the animated TV shows before I come up with the final verdict.

There are a lot of amazing animated TV shows. The Simpsons, Futurama, The Amazing World of Gumball, Gravity Falls, the list goes on! However, much like animated films, there are a lot of bad animated TV shows. However, the good overshadows the bad so much that the bad ones seem unnoticeable.

So, have we entered another animation golden age? I think it's obvious that the answer is yes. With all of the inventive storytelling and amazing talent, the art of animation will only prosper in the coming years.